Central Alberta coyote hunt aims to bring predator's population under control
But some wildlife organizations worry the event could have the opposite effect
A competitive coyote hunt in central Alberta this weekend is targeting the predator's population to bring its numbers under control, but some wildlife groups are raising the alarm about how effective the event will be.
The first Coyote Classic is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday in Stettler County, just east of Red Deer. Competing teams will hunt as many coyotes as possible throughout the two days, with the team that brings in the most pelts winning $2,500 and a new hunting rifle for each team member.
Lee Bates, the owner of Storm Mountain Outfitters in Stettler, is the organizer behind the event. He notes the Coyote Classic is responding to an increase in the area's coyote population, which is creating problems for the county. He said he's heard from farmers and ranchers who are losing livestock to coyotes, while other wildlife populations are dwindling.
"As hunters, and me owning a hunting store, I hear a lot about how the deer population and elk and moose populations are down," Bates said in an interview with CBC's The Homestretch last week. "I think some may be due to [chronic wasting disease], but I think quite a few too [is due] to the increase in the predator population."
More than 100 people are expected to participate in the event this weekend. The event includes a banquet dinner on Saturday, with some of the proceeds going to the Stettler Food Bank. Local taxidermists and trappers will judge the collected pelts for additional prizes, rewarding the heaviest or mangiest coyote caught.
"We had to keep it interesting … and just make it a fun event, as well as control the population," Bates said.
Agricultural producers have struggled with losing livestock to coyote attacks for years, and some have recently called for the predators to be added to the wildlife compensation program.
But Alberta Wilderness Association conservation specialist Ruiping Luo argues there are better ways to manage conflict between wildlife and humans, like fencing, careful livestock management and removing materials that attract coyotes. Tasing and behavioural management can also be more effective to keep animals away from specific areas, she said.
The problem with the event's focus, Luo argues, is it may not account for the effect it'll have on the area's other wildlife.
"We'd like to see a holistic view where you're trying to manage the ecosystem," Luo said.
"This targeted approach on one predator tends to not allow for an understanding of all of the impacts beyond just shooting or killing this one predator."
Luo adds the Coyote Classic seems to be part of a larger trend of opening up hunts on predators, and using this as a primary solution to conflict between humans and wildlife.
Bates says he understands not everyone will agree with the hunt, but he argues grease mange and disease in the coyotes are signs the population is getting too high and that a better job of controlling the predator is needed. He added the event may be put on the back burner in the future if the coyote population is kept under control after this year.
Stettler County Reeve Larry Clarke agrees coyotes have been a growing problem for years. Clarke, who owns a farm near Gadsby, Alta., where he's a cow-calf producer, said coyotes prey too often on newborn livestock, especially sheep.
"I know for myself as a producer, there's been coyote issues everywhere around me. You just go out at night and that's all you can hear in the evening is coyotes," Clarke said, noting the county offered sponsorship for the Coyote Classic's banquet.
But Lesley Sampson, founding director of Coyote Watch Canada, argues an organized hunt may not be effective.
She worries about the contest's ecological impact, as coyotes themselves control rodent populations and remove dead animals from the land.
More than that, Sampson notes the hunt could have the opposite effect of what it's intending. Removing older, dominant coyotes from their territory, where it can regulate other coyotes from mating or having litters in that territory, can open that area up for more coyotes to move in and reproduce. Targeting coyotes can also force them to migrate to new areas they weren't previously inhabiting.
"A killing contest is just that. It's a contest. It is not adding any kind of ecological management of the population," Sampson said.
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